Chris Hatcher, Ph.D., (1946–1999) was a

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

, who was an expert in

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

and

forensic psychology Forensic psychology is the development and application of scientific knowledge and methods to help answer legal questions arising in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes both research on various ...

. He dedicated his professional life to the study of

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

and its prevention. He died unexpectedly at the age of 52.

Workplace violence

Hatcher was one of the first experts to recognize the importance of understanding

workplace violence Workplace violence (WPV), violence in the workplace (VIW), or occupational violence refers to violence, usually in the form of physical abuse or threat, that creates a risk to the health and safety of an employee or multiple employees. The Nationa ...

and develop methods of

threat assessment Threat assessment is the practice of determining the credibility and seriousness of a potential threat, as well as the probability that the threat will become a reality. Threat assessment is separate to the more established practice of violence-ri ...

. He was acutely aware that the damage came not only from the violence itself in the workplace, but from mental torture created by the fear of threats of violence. He tried to develop an organized method of identifying and assessing threats before violence occurred, helping organizations determine the signs and symptoms of stress in an employee that could trigger violence, stressing understanding the process through which stress develops into a violence act by an employee. He served as an effective consultant on site once violence was threatened, working to free employees from the fear created by the threats. He advocated a

multidisciplinary approach Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

in responding to and containing workplace violence through, among other methods, effective

employee assistance programs An employee assistance program (EAP) is an employee benefit program that assists employees with personal problems and/or work-related problems that may impact their job performance, health, mental and emotional well-being. EAPs generally offer ...

. Hatcher also worked with the victims of violence to help them cope. For example, he worked with the father of

Polly Klaas Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (a diminutive of Mary). Polly may also be a short form of names such as Polina, Polona, Paula or Paulina. People named or nicknamed Polly Female * Caresse Cros ...

Marc Klaas Polly Hannah Klaas (January 3, 1981 – October 1, 1993) was an American murder victim whose case garnered national media attention. On October 1, 1993, at age twelve, she was kidnapped at knifepoint during a slumber party at her mother's home i ...

, after her murder.

Criminal profiling

Hatcher was an expert in forensic areas, including the study of the mind of various types of

murderer Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

s. In dealing with the

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

leader,

David Koresh David Koresh (; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Davidian Sev ...

, in the

Waco siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. mi ...

, he believed that it was important to understand that cults require constant excitement to bind them to the cult leader. He said a violent confrontation with cult members played into their beliefs of being persecuted, increasing the probability of violent deaths. In his analysis, the first stage of violence occurs when the cult leader tells his followers that evil forces are out to get the cult so the cult must develop security to protect itself. Hatcher analyzed the behavioral patterns of the Tylenol killer and determined that the Tylenol killer's thinking patterns were similar to that of an

arsonist Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

, not those of a

mass murderer Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

. While many killers receive some satisfaction in stalking their victims, the Tylenol killer was more technically oriented and removed, not specifically choosing any one victim and not seeming to care who was killed. Unlike most killers, he had no direct contact with his victim. Through such careful study and organized observation of criminal behavior, Hatcher became expert in

criminal profiling Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is an investigative strategy used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and has been used by investigators to link cases that may have been committed by the same perpetrator ...

Expert witness

Hatcher testified as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in the case, ''People v. Gregory Scott Smith'' in which he characterized the defendant as a "sadistic pedophile" during the sentencing phase of a death penalty case. He described the common characteristics of persons who commit abductions similar to this case, explaining that they are living out a fantasy regarding the rape and molestation of children, and that the components of the fantasy include "forcible sodomy, strangulation, and disfigurement of the victim’s body", all acts committed by Smith. This testimony was controversial because Hatcher did not evaluate or interview the defendant but came to his conclusions solely on " profile evidence". Also, Hatcher's testimony was characterized as an improper attempt by the prosecution to sway the jury toward a death sentence on the grounds of extreme mental illness, contrary to law and precedent. He also testified at the trial of

Cameron Hooker Colleen J. Stan (born December 31, 1956) is an American woman who was kidnapped and held as a sex slave by Cameron and Janice Hooker in their Red Bluff, California home for over seven years, between 1977 and 1984. At Cameron Hooker's trial, Stan ...

who was accused of eight counts of

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

and associated offenses, after kidnapping his victim and keeping her prisoner for seven years. One of Hooker's defenses was that the victim consented to stay with him and a well known expert witness testified the victim's behavior indicates she did not want to escape. In a battle of

es at Hooker's trial, Hatcher explained the victim's seemingly compliant and apathetic behavior, counteracting the defense expert's portrayal of the victim as willingly complying with Hooker's demands. Unlike the defense expert witness, Hatcher extensively interviewed the victim and was prepared to testify how each element in Hooker's treatment of the victim was capable of coercing an individual into compliant behavior. He went through each of the hypothetical facts in the case—

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

whipping Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on an ...

, being locked in a box,

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...

and

sensory deprivation Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing, while more complex devices can al ...

, describing each of them as

coercive Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

techniques used by

sadistic Sadism may refer to: * Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation * Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...

persons to control another human being. He said such a continued pattern of

physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

and

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

would coerce most people into giving up resistance. Hatcher's testimony was essential in explaining to the jury how the victim could seem to be compliant. After the verdict was rendered and Hooker was convicted of seven of the eight counts, the

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

commended the jury for their "intelligence" in accepting Hatcher's testimony rather than that of the defense expert. Hatcher was awarded
Diplomate in Police Psychology
by th

(SPCP), the board certification in this specialty area of applied psychology.

Publications

*''Psychology of Child Firesetting'', Brunner/Mazel (1987)

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatcher, Chris 1946 births 1999 deaths Offender profiling 20th-century American psychologists Forensic psychologists University of California, San Francisco faculty